Of Bulls and Demigods
by megsdailyprophet
Summary: My first fanfic. Basically my head canon of what happened after Percy and Annabeth fell. Fluff and action. Wow I suck at writing summaries. Anyways, enjoy!


We fell for what seemed an eternity. A countless amount of time that could only be truly measured by fear. I meant to pull her up. I meant to save us both. But sometimes, my heroism could only break through so many limits. Because now, not even Hades could save us. The stars as well were beyond our reach, and Zoe Nightshade was far from sight. We would simply have to rely on skill and endurance to make it through this. Things that didn't always work on command, not with so many weaknesses to slow us down, and certainly not with a splinted, bubble wrapped broken ankle. Annabeth would be the one to slow us down on this mission. I couldn't rely on her aid this time, only her wisdom, something that I could never quite grasp. And what would happen if she…didn't make it? Grief would slow me down, and ultimately, would cause me to lay down my life as well. But I wouldn't think about that. Because the world needed saving, and, what else was new? The gods had called upon me (surprise, surprise.) and a few other half-bloods to defeat one of the most powerful and dangerous beings of the immortal world. I had no choice.

The only thing I could remember about falling was darkness. I couldn't see a thing, just a vague outline of light above me, the hole that had formed to suck us into the endless abyss that would soon claim our sanity. One of my hands was bleeding, that I was positive about. I could feel the warmth of the liquid seeping onto my palm, directly from the cut that had formed on my skin when I grabbed onto the ledge that briefly held us in the real world. The other hand was still holding Annabeth's wrist. I could feel her body flailing next to me as we tumbled through the black, and I reached out to grab her other hand. But I just couldn't seem to find it. The wind around me filtered through my ears, preventing me from hearing any cries she may have let out. I couldn't hear my shouts either, but I was sure that there were many of them. My mother unwillingly traveled into my mind. Her beautiful, joyful face, brimming with pride that had come from our years of being a family, relying on each other for happiness, and watching me and my friends save the world summer after summer. Then came Paul Blofis, my stepfather, who put an arm around her shoulder. Suddenly their eyes blackened and green smoke poured from their mouths, similar to the smoke that I saw when I talked to the old mummified oracle, the one we had before Rachel Elizabeth Dare took up the position. Paul's skull started to shatter, and then his entire body broke into pieces. My mother gazed at me, her eyes no longer her own. She raised her palms into the air.

"You will cause your friends to fail. You have guaranteed my survival, and my awakening, Percy Jackson. Now, you will suffer in the depths of hell," she sneered crookedly, "Enjoy your remaining hours, my little pawn. Your friend won't last long and neither will you," She brought her head up and let out a bloodcurdling shriek, one that seemed to have three voices at once. Then, she shattered just like Paul had, and disappeared into the darkness once more.

I shook my head, desperate to get the thought out of my memory. Our speed had decreased a bit, and I could now hear the sharp heaves of breath escaping from my lungs. Annabeth's short, abrupt shrieks of pain were audible to me now. I didn't know how long she had been letting them out. I had almost forgotten about her injury. I reached out my non-bleeding hand to test my movement limitations, and to my surprise, I felt my arm easily gliding through the air. I took this opportunity and found Annabeth's other arm. Lacing her fingers through mine, I pulled her into my chest. Or what I thought was my chest, I couldn't tell exactly with the lack of lighting. I felt her stiffen in my arms, and then relax her muscles. She had to stop moving. If she was in the wrong position when she landed…it could be fatal. I had to get her ankle out of the way. I _had _to take the impact of the hit. Not because she was weak, but because her mental state would cloud her thinking. For now, I had to be our brain, and that had _never _happened before. It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

"You realize we're going to die, right?" She suddenly murmured into my shirt. I tightened my arms around her.

"Only if we let it kill us." She picked her head up and gazed at me, her stormy grey eyes swimming with hopelessness, and also, I sadly noticed, brimming with tears. A curl of stray hair tickled the side of her nose. I curled it around my finger once and gently tucked it behind her ear,

"Percy, I have nothing left. My ankle…If I only had some ambrosia. I used the rest of it when everyone found me. Your sword, is it back in your pocket?"

I carefully removed one hand from around Annabeth's waist to reach into my back pocket, where Riptide usually resided. I could only find emptiness and lint, and my hopes fell. "That doesn't mean that we don't have a chance," I assured her.

"But we don't even know what-" her sentence was cut off by solid ground roughly smacking my back, forcing the air to leave my body for a brief amount of time. Annabeth rolled five feet away from me as my limbs took control, jutting out in awkward directions, and causing my injured hand to roar with painstaking agony. I cursed all the languages I knew. English, Greek, some Latin, and just a touch of horse. I didn't really know where that one came from, probably from listening to Blackjack drone on about the lack of donuts in the camp stables.

The pain of hitting the ground was immediately numbed when I heard Annabeth scream. There was just enough light down here, oddly enough, to see outlines and small features of Annabeth's face. She was curled into fetus position, her ankle clutched in her hands. The splint had broken in half, and the bubble wrap was the only thing protecting her broken bone. I forced myself to my hands and knees, and slowly crawled over to her shaking body.

"Oh gods…okay, Annabeth, don't move," My hand extended to her ankle and I carefully took off the bubble wrap. The skin around the break was swollen red, and a small cut was forming across her Achilles. "Do you have anything?" I stupidly asked

Annabeth gritted her teeth, her eyes still fiercely squeezed shut. "Seaweed brain, if I had anything to fix my ankle with, don't you think I would've done it before?"

I smirked a bit when I heard my old nickname, the same one that she had subconsciously used as an endearing term for five years. "Well, Wise girl, I hadn't thought about that. Do you have anything in your pockets?"

"I don't think so, I would totally check if I had the pain tolerance to move my hands away from my leg though," She hugged her ankle closer to her chest.

"Want me to check?" I suggested tentatively.

"Uh, no,"

"Well alright then,"

"I'll check myself," She reached into all four of her pockets, still holding her leg with the other hand. She pulled out a drawing pencil, a life-saver, and a paperclip, badly bent from the impact of our fall. She looked up at me sadly.

"Then we'll just have to make it work. Hey, we've saved the world in worse conditions than this, haven't we?"

"Actually, no, we haven't," She creased her eyebrows and frowned.

"Let's just pretend we did," I wrapped her ankle with the remaining bubble wrap. I could hear Annabeth wincing in pain, but I decided not to point it out. She didn't like feeling weak, or having other people see her weak. She'd probably fry me alive if I said anything.

When I finished, I secured my work with the bent paperclip that Annabeth had found in her pocket. Sitting back on my feet, I gazed around at our surroundings. As far as I could see, we were in a cavern, complete with jagged rocks shooting out from some of the walls, threatening to skewer any soul who dared to come near. "Annabeth, I think we've got to get moving,"

"Moving to where?"

"I don't know. I just feel like we should move soon, before-" My words were cut off by a distant low pitched squeal. It almost sounded like a cow…but also slightly human.

I'd heard that roar before. It was the first monster I'd fought. The first monster that had almost taken my life. The monster who had almost taken my only family away from me forever. The Minotaur. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around Annabeth's back and under her legs. I hoisted her up and hugged her to my chest, rapidly turning my head side to side.

"Percy just run!" She screamed at me. I knew her leg was uncomfortable, and I knew she wanted to cry. I did too. But I ignored our needs and simply just ran.

I wasn't sure which direction I sprinted in, but at least I was getting away. I ran for a good five minutes, with Annabeth holding tightly onto my neck. When I was sure we had lost him, my knees buckled beneath me and I fell to the ground in exhaustion. I set Annabeth down gently in front of me, and she pulled out her dagger, desperate to defend us.

"If he comes for us, I want you behind me. Did Riptide come back yet?" I reached into my back pocket, and was overly delighted to find my faithful sword entwined in my fingers. She saw it in my hand and sighed with relief. "Thank the gods. At least now I won't have to do all the work," She teased.

"Yup, my temporarily handicapped girlfriend will protect me, even though she can't walk," I smirked.

"Yet I'll probably still fight better than you,"

My smile softened. "Gods I love you,"

Annabeth's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

I cupped her cheek with my hand. "I said, I love you,"

She looked away for a moment, trying to hide her smile. "Love you too, seaweed brain. Just don't die on me in here, okay?"

I chuckled softly. "Alright, promise," I pulled her in for a kiss, my hands encircling her waist, and my lips pressed firmly against hers. She knit her fingers through my hair, and then settled her arms around my neck, pulling me closer. I softened the kiss a bit, and we pulled away. She hugged me, her face buried in my shoulder. I held her close, wanting to forget our location, and wanting so much to be safe and warm with our friends, maybe watching the fireworks by the canoe lake. I wanted to see my mother again. I wanted to see Grover again, hell, I even wanted to see Clarisse again. Most of all, I wanted us to be okay.

We stayed like that for a while, my hands rubbing small circles on her back, her hands running through my windswept hair. But nothing good lasts forever, because minutes later, I found the infamous bull-man standing ten feet behind us, still sporting his signature cloth diaper.

"Annabeth?" I carefully murmured.

I could tell that she detected something wrong in my voice, because her head shot up and she gazed into my eyes, searching for an explanation. "What is it?"

"Whatever you do, don't look behind you," And being Annabeth, she ignored my comment and glanced where my eyes were fixated. Immediately she sprang into action. She grabbed her dagger out of it's holster and held it toward the Minotaur. I uncapped Riptide and did the same. I helped her stand up, and one legged, she stood leaning against my back, as we had done in countless battles before.

"Same thing?" I asked.

"Same thing," She responded.

So together, we charged.

Well, not really charged. More like _I _charged, and she stumbled and limped. I knew that I was going to be on my own for this one, but I tried to not let myself think about that. I ran ahead of Annabeth, making sure to position myself so that I would block any blows the Minotaur would try to inflict on her already fragile body. I tried to slash at his leg, but he stepped back and my sword cut cleanly through the air.

"Didn't I kill you twice already?" I shouted.

The bull merely let out a bellow that I supposed was meant to be a laugh. Annabeth tripped behind me and her body sprawled out on the ground. The Minotaur seemed to take this as an opportunity to finish her off, and I was _not _going to let him do that. I wailed in rage and slashed madly at his legs, occasionally making a cut that seeped golden liquid, but then quickly closed up, leaving no scar behind. I could feel him advancing toward Annabeth, so I decided to do something mad, crazy, insane, probably what Chiron would call foolish and juvenile.

I grabbed onto the Minotaur's fur, and I climbed him.

It wasn't much different from the climbing walls at camp, just more furry and it smelled worse. He attempted to shake me off, but I didn't let him. I was too fueled with rage and willpower.

_Five years of this crap, and I still can't catch a break, _I thought weakly. I finally made it to his head, and he looked me straight in the eye. His pupils were dark, cold, and unforgiving. They rapidly searched my face for any sign of fear. But I wouldn't give him that satisfaction. I wouldn't let him see me weak.

I smiled at him. Then I spit in his face, and cleanly sliced off one of his horns. I was about to stab him with it, but he plucked me off of his head and threw me onto the ground at his feet. _Well this would be a stupid way to die, _I thought, _getting stepped on by a diapered bull-man. _I couldn't move anything. I tried to grab the horn two feet away from me, but it was no use. I was sure we were going to lose this battle, when I saw someone pick up the horn. They ran, no, hobbled, over to the Minotaur. I heard a loud wail, and the sound of an exploding monster that I had become familiar with over the years. Immediately after, I saw gold dust fly through the air, leaving no trace that the monster had ever existed. Annabeth stood over the ashes of our opponent, smugly holding his horn in her fingers. To my surprise, and disgust, she bent down and smeared her hands in it, collecting as much as she could in her palm. Then she limped over to me and knelt down at my side.

"I heard from Chiron that monster dust can heal wounds. I thought it was a rumor, so I never actually tried it. But I don't think we have a choice now. Take off your shirt," She ordered.

"My...my shirt?" I stammered. "Why?"

She glared at me like I had two heads. "Because your bleeding like crazy,"_  
_

I looked down at my stomach and saw a bright red patch of blood seeping through the fabric of my shirt. I hadn't noticed I was wounded until now. I didn't even feel anything. "Uh...okay," I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it behind me, wincing as I tried to lay back down. She gently held my shoulders in aid.

"No, I need to prop you up on something. The internal bleeding might move up to your lungs if you're not elevated. She moved over to my head and helped me sit up against her leg. My head lay in her lap, occasionally lolling to the side. How did I get wounded? And how come Annabeth's head was growing wings?

My vision turned blurry as Annabeth bent over my stomach. Her eyebrows raised in approval when she glanced at my abs. "Damn, those Romans whipped you into shape,"

"Impressed Wise girl?" I slurred.

"Oh shut up seaweed brain. We can talk about your amazing body after I save you from your impending death," she tentatively held out a dust covered hand, and spread the golden flakes around my wound, which I could now see was fairly deep and wide. The sting that came with it was indescribable. I let out a sharp cry of pain and Annabeth grabbed my hand. I squeezed it until her fingers cracked. I flashed back to the time she was wounded on the balcony in New York, and half-smiled at the irony.

"Annabeth, if the Minotaur were to reform, wouldn't he just reform down here?" I said in realization.

"I'm guessing we have some time for that. After all, he's not supposed to be fully done mending until he's put into the outside world right?"

I nodded. "True,"

I glanced down at my stomach.

"Is it supposed to sting?" I asked after the pain subsided a bit.

"Not sure. We'll find out, I suppose," She stroked my hair as I fought the pain that came with more dust covering my wound. I felt a tear trickle down a corner of my eye, something I was _definitely _not used to.

Annabeth saw it and smiled sadly. "Percy Jackson, is that a tear I see?"

"What? The savior of Olympus isn't allowed to cry? I'll have you know that crying is very manly. All the great heroes of history have cried at one point or another," I defended.

She wiped the tear away with her thumb and traced the outline of my face, slowing down at my jawline. "Name three," She challenged.

I pressed my lips together. "Well...I'll bet Hercules cried when he poisoned his wife," I suggested.

"Percy, I highly doubt that. And I don't care how manly you are. Anyone who can piggyback ride a Minotaur is fine by me," Her eyes danced mischievously.

"You used my line," I pointed out, flashing back to our first quest when she attacked one of the furies that invaded our bus.

Annabeth pressed her lips to my forehead. "So I guess we're even now," she smirked.

"I guess we are," I looked down at my wound, and was surprised to see that the blood had faded, and all that was left was a small pink scar stretching across my stomach. I was still numb with pain, but at least I knew I was going to be okay.

"See? I'm a genius," She stated as she tended to my more minor wounds. Thank the gods there weren't many more. With a bit more stinging and murmured words of comfort, my skin had resealed itself and my body felt ten times healthier.

"Now you," I said, sitting up.

"It's fine. Really, I can manage," She tried to assure me.

"No, you can't. Your ankle is swollen about three times its normal size. Can this stuff mend bones too?"

"I...I don't know. Should we try it?"

"I'm willing to do anything to save you," I said.

"That was the most cliche romantic line I've ever heard. But alright. Let's give it a shot," She moved her leg out in front of her with gritted teeth. I set it gently in my lap and unwrapped it, revealing her skin to be redder than before.

"How does it look?" She asked.

"Oh...um, fine. I think it's getting better," I falsely stated.

"I know you're lying you idiot," She raised her eyebrows knowingly.

"Just let me heal it, Wise Girl. I need some of that dust," I said. She held out her hand and sprinkled a bit of the Minotaur's ashes in my palm. I examined the cut on her Achilles and decided to tackle that first.

"Don't mess up. I'd rather not die because my boyfriend couldn't use Bull entrails correctly,"

"Hey Annabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you be quiet?"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever kelp face, just make sure I don't die," She smirked and rolled her eyes.

I spread the dust over her cut the same way she did with mine. I heard her wince once, but within minutes her wound seemed to seal itself and she no longer looked pained. Smiling with satisfaction, I looked to her for consent.

"How do I heal bones with this stuff? Just the same way?"

"I mean...I guess, we don't even know if it will work either. Just spread it on the swollen area I guess," She shrugged.

So that's what I did. Minutes passed and nothing happened. Then, Annabeth doubled over, and curled up on the ground, hugging her knees. Panicked, I ran to her side.

"What's wrong? Annabeth, what happened?!" I shrieked, desperate for an explanation. "Oh gods...oh gods oh gods oh gods oh gods, no come on, you have to wake up. Wise girl, stay with me! Wake up!" I was close to sobbing now, my thoughts clouded with fear. I roughly shook her shoulders, causing her hair to fly into her face. I moved her blonde curls out of her eyes.

Her face was ghastly pale, the color of the moon when it was lacking its luminous white glow. Her eyelids had shut, restricting me from seeing her beautiful grey pupils once more. Her eyes full of wonder, and laughter. Holding so many memories that bound us together as one. Her eyes full of annoyance when I didn't understand what she said when she was explaining seemingly simple polynomial expressions to me. Her eyes full of relief when she saw me again for the first time after six months of not knowing if I was living or dead. Her eyes full of compassion, when she kissed me that night in the dining pavilion oblivious to the stares and whoops we got from other campers. And her eyes full of love, when she looked at me when I did something stupid, or ignorant, or just downright weird. Because I knew that she didn't care. She didn't care if I was stupid. She didn't care if I was ignorant. I was her Seaweed Brain. And she was my Wise Girl. It was simple.

I tried to take her pulse, but I found an eerie silence in its place. My hopes plummeted, digging deep into the ground until oxygen was no longer a familiar comfort. My body seemed too weak to move. Too weak to breathe, or ever live again. It was a battle that we had lost. Together, we fell, together, we fought, and together, we died. My mind was weak as well. I couldn't think clearly. I couldn't stand up. It seemed as though I couldn't command myself any longer.

Annabeth was lost to the world. And I would be too.

At least, that's what I thought, before she gasped and opened her eyes.

My body was paralyzed once more. She tried to sit up, but fell back immediately, creating an audible _thud _on the floor. Her pupils searched around until they rested squarely on my own. She took one look at my face and smirked with delight.

"If you thought I was leaving you that easily, you better think twice,"

I could feel the strength slowly refilling my limbs. Brimming with happiness, I hugged her so fiercely, and so tightly, I thought I would crack both of our ribs. But I didn't, and instead, I crushed my still healing stomach wound. I cringed and pulled away for a moment, looking to examine Annabeth's ankle.

"Does it feel any better?"

"I can't feel anything at all," She admitted.

"Does it hurt when you move it?"

She flexed her foot, then slowly grinned. "Nope. I guess I'm what you consider 'fixed,' Seaweed Brain,"

"Well thank the gods," I shouted into the air above. I hugged her again, this time planting a kiss at the top of her head.

"Did you think I was dead or something?"

_Never, _I almost said. But that wasn't true, so I couldn't respond with that this time.

"You had no pulse," I stated instead.

She pondered this for a moment, creasing her eyebrows the same way she always did when thinking things over. "Right!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Chiron said that when you mend a broken bone with this stuff, the victim goes into a brief 'false death' sort of thing. At least that's what he called it.

"And you couldn't have remembered that earlier?" I deadpanned.

"Well gods, my bad. Sorry my mind was too fogged with ideas of how to survive the darkest depths of hell," She sarcastically fired back.

"Yeah yeah, you're right. Sorry," I sat back on my hands, facing her now sitting body. "So, now what?"

"We could go to sleep. I'm pretty sure it's been at least five hours since we started falling. And if we fell when the sun was just setting and the sun was supposed to set at six thirty one..." she did some calculations in her head, "That means that it's 11:31 pm or later. And it's possible that time moves faster down here like it did in the labyrinth, so it could be either the next day, or the next month," She concluded.

"I'd hate to go an entire month without sleeping," I joked.

"Same. Let's just go to sleep. Should I take first watch?" She suggested.

"How about we both just try and get some sleep? I'm sure whatever finds us will wake us up," I said, hoping that she'd just choose to get some rest.

She nodded in agreement. "Alright," I sprawled on the ground beneath us, holding out my arms to her. She graciously accepted, and she lay with her head on my chest, and with my arms hugging her waist. I was playing with her hair, wrapping her curls around my fingers, when she said, "Percy, where's your shirt?"

I felt my face turn red. "Um...I think it's still covered in blood," I stuttered, embarrassed.

She picked up her head to look at my crumpled up shirt, sitting in a small puddle of blood two feet away from us. She shrugged and lay back down against my bare chest. "I guess I'll just have to deal,"

"I knew you loved my abs," I teased.

"Maybe I do. Still, shut up," She admitted and slowly, her eyes began to close.

"Oh I _know _you do, Wise Girl," I challenged.

"I'm trying to sleep Seaweed Brain," she whispered.

"Whatever you say," I finally accepted.

Silence.

Her breaths came steady and periodically now. I tightened my arms around her and pulled her closer to me. Part of me desperate to keep her close and part of me afraid of having her taken away from me at any moment. Maybe we were stuck in Tartarus. Maybe we had no idea what to do next. But at least we were together. We could make it through this. Was it possible that either of us could be shredded into small, minuscule pieces by an unknown monster at any point during our time here? Absolutely. But even if that happened, at least we would go down fighting. We were born for one soul purpose. To fix the gods mistakes. I hated them most of the time, and I couldn't ignore the fact that they screwed up more times than any other villain in history. Because of this, people like me had to fix their screw-ups. So I kissed Annabeth's hair, closed my eyes, and waited for the god's mistakes to come and find us.


End file.
